Customers can be rude or angry for a variety of reasons — some justified, some not. All businesses are likely to encounter rude or angry individuals at one time or another. How you respond can make the difference between a customer who feels satisfied with the resolution and one who vows never to deal with your business again.

BBB has devised some tips for coping with a tense situation and finding a resolution to everyone’s satisfaction:

1. Remain calm. When a customer starts yelling or being otherwise rude, there is nothing to be gained by responding in a similar manner. In fact, that will probably escalate hostilities. Maintain control and avoid emotional responses, even if a customer’s tirade makes you feeling like reacting with anger or frustration.
    
2. Do not take it personally. Remember, the customer is not angry with you; they are displeased with the performance of your product or the quality of the service they received. Your personal feelings are beside the point.
   
   
3. Use your best listening skills. The first thing an angry customer wants is to vent. To do so, they need someone to listen—and, for better or worse, you are that person. Listening patiently can defuse a situation, as long as the customer feels acknowledged in his or her complaint. Hear them out. When they are done talking, summarize what you’ve heard, use the complainant’s name, and ask any questions to further clarify their issue. If you are dealing with a customer in person, your body language could be critically important. Maintain eye contact, stand or sit up straight, keep your arms uncrossed, and show how closely you are paying attention to their problem.
   
   
4. Humanize your organization. Actively sympathize.After the customer vents, they deserve to feel like you know and understand where they are coming from and/or how they feel. Express sympathy for their unpleasant customer experience. Respect and understanding will go a long way toward smoothing things over.
   
   
5. Apologize gracefully. It would be wise to express an apology for the problem the customer has experienced. Whether the customer’s complaint is legitimate or not is irrelevant. Further, nobody makes mistakes on purpose, but they do happen. Expressing that you do not have ownership of the problem or the potential resolution gives the customer a feeling of being adrift and powerless. The customer does not know the inner workings of your company, your policies, or your procedures. He or she will never be able to navigate the requirements, restrictions, or resolution with the same knowledge and experience as you. Reassure the customer that you will use your knowledge and experience to coordinate the best possible resolution, even if you need to get the assistance of other parties to achieve it.
   
   
6. Offer assistance and address concerns. Once you understand why the customer is unhappy, it is time to offer a solution. Ask what he or she feels should be done; or, put forward your own fair and realistic answer to the problem. In most cases, that’s all the customer is looking for – and it may result in providing some degree of satisfaction. It may not be feasible to give your customer a guarantee that the correction will resolve all problems permanently, but it may be appropriate to reassure the customer that you will be available to assist in the event that another different problem should occur again. Demonstrate your confidence that this specific problem will be resolved and is not expected to reoccur.
   
   
7. Follow through and follow up. Address the issue as best as you possibly can. Then,follow-up with the customer after sufficient time has elapsed to demonstrate that the corrective action has been effective. A phone call or a personalized postcard demonstrates individual attention and acknowledgement. Demonstrating compassion and attentiveness thirty days after a problem has been resolved is a powerful message to show that you really do care about the individual customer. This follow-up after the anger has subsided and the corrective action has been demonstrated as effective may be enough to retain loyal customers and earn a few new ones.

Dissatisfied customers are, unfortunately, a fact of business life. How you respond will determine whether the customer goes on to tell all his friends and family how terrible your business is or instead rave about your unmatched customer service. The aforementioned tips are simply meant to assist in conflict resolution at difficult times. Ultimately, every business has its own methods for handling conflict and some consumers will never be satisfied, but it’s important to have the skills to diffuse a complicated situation when it arises.